The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-08-21
OTHER EARLY DAN LAMONTS.
TIE TWO PRIVATE sECRETARIEs or
PRESIDENT JAMES MONROE

bucreun0r,
Lawrenee Gsuvrneur Of New York.
The frequency with which the earlier Presl-
dents changed their private secretaries was
due. perhaps. to the fact that the salaries were
paid from tho Presidential purse. Thus tho
place was not accounted a Federal ofice and
the Presidents fairly escaped the familiar par
tisan censuro based upon the appointment OF
relatives. 1t appears that some favonte nephew
or SON In law was for a time made the conf
Dental Secretary. and when he could be shifted
into a place OF greater emolument another
relative would succeed him In tho Executive
household.
After Edward Coles. President Madison's
Secretary. emancipated his slaves and entered
upon his stirring career In Illinois. the gifted
and dissipated James Payne Todd. the only
child OF Dolly Madison. succeeded to the place,
and continued In that relation until the end OF
his stepfathers term and during the frst
months OF that Era OF good feeling" which
Mr.. Monroo's Administration marked. upon
the tongues Of surviving gossipers there still
runs stories Of the erratc life OF Payne Todd
sufficient to MI volume with the revolt
ing annals OF q debaucheo. But there may be
reasoned from scattered illusions to the seri-
Gus. though ephemeral. pursuits Of the way
ward man enough to suggest rounded esti-
mate OF his character. Tracing his ancestry
on the maternal side develops that interlnk-
ing OF the leading families which characterized
the domestic branch OF colonial history. John
Payne. his great-gcandfather. Was an early
Virginia colonist. His grand ather married
Mary Coles, whose mother was an aunt OF
Patrick Henry These ancestors resided In
Hanover county Virginia the sett enent being
called scotchtown. from tho ma witty OF the
emigrants. The Coles family. however. had
come from Enniscorthy. Ireland Edward
Coles. the first Secretary was Mrs. Maidstone
cousin. Her mother had once rejected tho
proffered hsart Of Thomas Jefferson.
John Payne. the father Of the famous White
House beauty. was Quaker, and early con-
ceived an hostility to slavery. He freed at
length his bonded fellow men. removed to
Philadelphia, and became an Elder among the
Quskers. His financial affairs did not pros
per. and bankruptcy was the direct cause OF
his death. His daughter Dolly was then but
10 and at the perfection OF her loneliness. The
suit Of John Todd. leading and wealthy law
yer. for her hand WAS repulsed by the coy
maiden, who a,owed that she would never
marry, a Quakertsh cast OF mind from which
she was destined "a be far removed. But ner
father upon his death bed urged her to marry
Todd, and she could not vioIaIe the dying in
Ing offspring at the end Of three years OF their
welded lie. At 20 the Widow Todd became
the wife Of future President. Al a child.
the stepspn WAS u petted inmate OF the house
hold. and his bright ways f,reshadowed . dlt-
terent future from that into WHICH he la.sed:
baltimore. aud probably spent some lime In
Princston College, ~ In letter his mother
writes o; the In ention OF sending him son 70
Handsome. His playful disposition as child
f. alluded to IN letter BY Nine ne p i"us ~ y
Gen. Van COurtlandts Wig rs he was making 4
particularly impressive bow Is loosely re.
negotiated tho peace. He saw Partisan life.
but the dallatln correspondence OF tna. PERIOD
upon his return in the closing months Of 1878
that he beGame the private SECRETARY OF Mr.
Ths Of hs senate mH Ii: s5G 1s
sipation could not then have become continue
oSs; 4 was In the opening q ,hs Monroe sfm m
Kept his devoted mother 10 anguish over MS
mysterious absence. Her letters are pathetic
sSs S.a +, hsI sG Gs
tsss s s6s NJ .n y i M ] n IN Sem i YORK
Though he WAS an lpcorrisiole spendthrift
a Nj afG 4: had rsa sss 4uns % s
& named ToddssSs1f6 Hers !, Sis s r. e
had q genuine affection. and though Ills debts
eaused the sgnande,ing OF her means, shs
the Hs 80
she should i've With him on this old estate.
and he lashionsd ths house with eecentris IDEAS
OF comfort. That his mother might have no
stairs to ascend. the entrance TO The dining
room was through window i Mr. Mndi-on
concluded 10 leave Montpelier and to spend the
winters In Washington. For years she resided
In the house at Lafayette place and Il streets.
which had been erected by iiicha u Cults hor
relative: 4 Maine Congre-s man. II is now in i,s
EemHdetd term ofSared by .he CSsm9s p Sn5
Fosd i asd sS1 %sa
servants OF the family. in all ii.re intervening
years there IL nothing TO record 81 him but =
mnnotuuuus recirnl OF caDrictous lie. he had
many Madison souvenirs On his virginia state;
but an auclinneer u whom he was indebted
h ms family ;Mn NV In washinston aN " ~ '' N
After the roaming Instincts OF Todd had led
@ sf
nephew. Jane. Monroe. Jr., is recorded a. the
brother whose debts In SEQ land were liiui-
dated by thu Pre- ident and from his generous
&C., began In part the nanfa pr
John Quincy Adams often alludes TO Joseph j..
Monroe a. present at some state dinner, Out
toned In political literature, nor does It abide
In the memory OF accessible people.
during sse onr" %o e Tns Wa eS I"W
renee Gouyenonr Of New York his .on in law.
President Monroe and the iather offs l.; Gouv-
bellies ~ the me ropolis In 1920 the National
Inir,igenrer announced in three lines that
Samuel Lawrence Guuveneur had been mar
ried ut The White House by the Rev nr. Hnw.
ley to Maria Hester. daughter Of President
Monroe. Sei her the marriage Of !irst cours-
FMS nor III. inct that the marriage took place
~ the White House impelled the press NJ 'ha,
day to accord more than three linz. - fnatri.
mGnia event; The 1om wa; r. Sr1;d d' o.; 81
duelling history tho. ~. bro her, Isaac Cow
eneur. while a s.S,dent, was killed IN ~ duel by
Homer MAY. vli. a college Associate: Tie sur
yivor d. pur II few years ago. and in hi dy-
Ing prsrances bewa led the rash act OF his
you.n. Oyer his whole life the fatal meeting
bai rested ~ a pail.
che Presidential son In law served faith fully
- private secretary. After Mr., Monroe retired,
John Quincy Adams appointed Mr. Gouvenrur
Postmaster OF New YORK city. He had pen:
chant for fast horses. and was Tho owner OF
?nstboy, whose performances on the urf were
once the marvel ~ the Sporting world When
bis term expi ed Mr.. Gouyeneur became a
clerk In the State Department. He died In
1856 aged GO. at Oak Hill. the Monroe estr e in
Loudonn county. Virginia. His only, son; Sam
uel Lawrence uouyeneur. Jr.. served with dis
tinction IN the Mexican war, and ats"wi,,i was
appoini ed Consul nj Foo Chou. He died in
1880 and thus the male line OF the uuuveneur
family became extinct. His widow and TWO
daughters vet reside In a beautiful home in